Mind's Eye Theatre - Vampire The Requiem.pdf - RoseRed

Knowing the proper application of the rules for a Mind’s Eye Theatre session is only
part of the process for putting together a truly memorable and immersing experience. Some
might even argue that the rules are actually the least important part of successfully holding
such an event.
By now you are familiar with the mechanics of adjudicating a game session. You are prepared
to handle combat situations, rules altercations and properly judge whether the actions
of the player’s characters succeed or fail in a fair and just manner. But what comes next is
the understanding of how to craft a grand story around the bare skeleton of those rules. And
that’s really the heart of any chronicle — the story itself.
Specifi cally, these stories center on the society and nightly affairs of the walking dead. They
are stories about a relentless hunger that makes you a monster. It’s about having power and
control over others, but ultimately not over yourself. Oh, it’s true that these characters can
concentrate their abilities into some really amazing feats, but in the end they are all just slaves
to that hunger that never really leaves them. Despite the fancy clothes, calm demeanors and
secrets within secrets, they all hear the call of their own monstrous hunger. In order to distract
themselves from that gnawing need they imbed themselves in a world of secrets, madness
and treachery. These are stories about making choices when none of your options are good,
safe or easy. Most of all, it’s a story you don’t tell by yourself. You tell it in partnership with
other players. One of you takes the role of Storyteller, but all of you work together to make
the story complete.
The Requiem is subtitled, “A Modern Gothic Live-Action Storytelling Game.” This chapter
serves as a guide to you on how to run such a game. Storytellers have the most need to read this
chapter, of course, but some topics most defi nitely will concern conscientious players, too.
The Mind’s Eye Theatre core book already told you what a Storytelling game is. So, what
is a “Modern Gothic Storytelling Game”?
The concept of what makes a good horror story has shifted with exposure to present day
media. Most commonly what is labeled as “horror” comes in the form of the blood-splattering
shocks such as those presented in a modern slasher movie. For the purposes of this game
setting, however, it is important to remember that horror also applies to the eerie mysteries of
a classic ghost story. The Requiem can incorporate any sort of horror, but the game focuses
on what is commonly referred to as gothic horror. For our purposes what this represents
is a more personal sense of horror and revulsion. It is not being momentarily startled as a
hooded man with an axe jumps out of the closet, but rather the horror whose source is one’s
own deeds, of one’s own self.
In most horror stories, the protagonists are victims. Something bad happens to them; you’re
scared on their behalf. They innocently wander into a situation that places them in some
sort of physical or emotional danger, most often at the hands of some sort of supernatural
force. In The Requiem’s particular brand of gothic horror, characters fi ll the roles of victim
and monster at the same time. They do the bad things and suffer the consequences, or they
try not to do bad things, and suffer the consequences of that choice. The personal horror
of The Requiem is about realizing, beyond all doubt, that you are the monster. (Or at least
your character is!)
You can tell all kinds of stories in a Requiem chronicle. There are others themes to these
stories that can range from dark romance to gritty war stories. Your stories, however, should
offer characters a chance to discover just how diffi cult their existence as Kindred can become,
especially if they are seeking to tame their dark appetite. It is their payment for the abilities
they can possess — it is the cost of immortality. Can the characters withstand the hunger and
rage of the Beast and still function within the ruthless demands of Kindred society? Can they
298
mind’s chapter eye four: theatre: storytelling requiem